Radar towers with automatic video cameras for target identification. Seismic sensors to detect and differentiate human footfalls from cattle and smugglers from border patrol agents. Satellite phones to communicate outside of cell phone contact. Laptops in border patrol vehicles linked to a satellite comm system to integrate the automated sensors with agents ready to be […]
Archive | December, 2007
Un-becoming a citizen
It takes more — or less — than passing your citizenship test to become a true American. “Very few Americans actually function as citizens anymore.” – Scott Ritter It wasn’t that long ago that the sight of a roomful of immigrants after they’ve passed their citizenship tests warmed our hearts. Who could fail to […]
Quotabull
I figured: if you want to go look in my mouth, go right ahead. — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, speaking to 250 people inside an Iowa municipal hall that resembled a horse barn. It’s enough that freshman Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) has on display all his favorite animals that he has hunted down, killed […]
Personal use is copyright infringement?
In the latest example of how the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has utterly failed to understand and adapt to the changing music landscape, RIAA has brought suit against a man for copying his legally purchased CDs to his personal computer for personal use. In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, […]
2007 in Review, pt. 5: Politicians, whores and the media who love them…
Welcome to the fifth and final installment of the Scholars & Rogues year-end wrap-up. Today we tackle the dirty, but oddly riveting world of politics. We’ll take a couple shots at the even dirtier world of media that makes it all possible. Let’s start at the top, shall we? George Walker Bush: I’ve been telling […]
Undercity Gotham – the conclusion
Sylvie had been cut off mid sentence. Alex’s prospective assassins must have set up a commlink jammer that cut out the cemetery’s remaining wifi service. That Kawashira-san would spend that expense meant that Alex had been right to arm himself for war back at his penthouse. He just hoped that his assault rifle, armor, and […]
Satuday Video Roundup: with peace and rhythm for all…
Welcome to the final SVR of 2007. Let’s drum the old year out and the new one in with some of the year’s best drumming video finds, shall we? First off, somebody get this kid a contract.
Give us your tired, your poor, your Iraqi refugees. . . What? Wait a minute.
The first entry in Scholars & Rogues’s 2008 Wish List for the World Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have fled the carnage and poverty that our intrusion into their affairs has unleashed. They’ve been admitted to two countries ill-equipped to accommodate them: Jordan and Syria. Meanwhile, the US has kept its borders closed to all […]
Dr. Slammy in 2008: Discipline and the sanctity of the learning environment
Hi. I’m Sam Smith, and I’m running for President. The discipline question is one of the most difficult ones facing this campaign, and even as we construct the strategic platform plank we’re sobered by the tactical realities that must be faced. Some schools are dangerous places. A lot more are significantly less effective than they […]
Undercity Gotham Continues at The Daedalnexus
Alex sat on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and waited for Kawashira-san and his soldiers to show up. The Met was more or less in its original form, saved via a concerted effort by the people of New York to rescue one of the city’s few remaining landmarks. It had been covered […]
Vultures (presidential and otherwise) descend on Pakistan's chaos
By Martin Bosworth By now you know that Benazir Bhutto is dead and Pakistan is in turmoil. I can’t say anything that Euphrosyne didn’t already say beautifully, so I won’t belabor what is already known. I also recommend Stirling Newberry’s comments on what this means for America and our declining empire. Never one to pass […]
Introducing Undercity Gotham – Part 1
Writing fiction is a bitch when you’re starting out. You come up with what you hope is a new idea that will draw people in, you develop the characters and setting, figure out the rough plot, and then find that you started writing your story in the wrong tense, or you started too early in […]
2007 in Review, pt. 3: Sex, drugs and cellulite!
Welcome to part three of S&R’s first annual year-end round-up. I’ll begin by apologizing for my colleagues, who have wasted a lot of their time (and yours) yammering about “important” issues. Of course, I admire their intellectual gravity, but let’s be honest – that sort of seriousness is really misplaced when the intended audience is […]
Benazir Bhutto: Forbidding Mourning
By Ann Ivins For who among us could presume to pity her? Benazir Bhutto lived her life exactly as she believed: an idealist and a pragmatist, a fighter and a pacifist, a mother, a wife, and a leader of nations. She walked among her people while her opponents hid behind walls and guns. Every political […]
National Republican Congressional Committee declares war on Christmas!
Why does the RNCC make Baby Jesus cry? Thanks to Andrew White for the tip.
S&R Honors
Click here to learn more about past honorees...- “Where Girls Grow Strong” – and Boy Scouts follow
- Atheists in heaven? Vatican spin machine leaps into action
- I-5 bridge collapse: reflecting on our crumbling infrastructure
- UPDATED: Pope Francis says atheists can go to heaven: Sweet Jesus! The College of Cardinals done elected a hippie
- Magic Hat vs. West Sixth brewhaha: will MH win the battle that costs them the war?
- Mystery Unraveled: How a white, moderate, married, churchgoing, middle-class, middle-aged woman could vote for Obama
- An open letter to Burt Rutan, regarding his WSJ commentary on human-caused climate disruption
- Meet the men of Match.com: Really, guys, are you serious?
- Climate scientists still besieged
- Pelosi on Bush: “He’s not worth impeaching”
